Blinded

I can’t imagine being born blind. I can barely get around my house without tripping on something that is always there now. When driving through Ruston, Louisiana, I noticed people with their eyes covered walking around with sight sticks. I later found out that Ruston was the home of the Louisiana Center for the Blind. The center teaches students the tools necessary to live life independently.  Finishing the program requires students to dropped off at a random location where they must find their way back.

My trip to Ruston was years ago, but I recalled this while reading a novel whose main character was born blind. She used echolocation to get around. Echolocation is the “ability of humans to detect objects in their environment by sensing echoes from those objects, by actively creating sounds.” The protagonist in the novel I am reading used clicking sounds from her mouth to “see.”

Throughout our lives, we will encounter many who are blind, though most of them can see. Their eyes may physically work, but they are blind in other areas. Jeremiah 5:21 says, “Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.” This verse tells me that God wanted them to know something, but they chose not to hear it for some reason.

There are a variety of reasons that people do not see. Ignorance is one of those reasons. Ignorance is not stupidity. It is merely a lack of knowledge. If you saw a cow for the first time, you would not know what it is unless someone tells you it is a cow. The same is true of other things. If you have never been taught a truth, how can you know it? I have experienced people training me on the job that did not want to explain something because they preferred to be the only one with that knowledge. They thought it made them more valuable to the company. When the time came for me to use that knowledge, I could not. I was blind to that truth.

One truth that I learned over the years is God loves us all. Sometimes, we are

ignorant of that truth. If we do not demonstrate God’s love to others, then how can they know. Treat people the way God loves and tell them about the God of love. Knowing the truth can change their lives. John 8:31-32 states, “So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” You cannot be set free if you do not know the truth.

Image source: Seasons of Life Ministries.

Sometimes we do not see the truth in our lives because we are too busy looking at the problem in everyone else’s lives. We choose to look at the negative in people without understanding what we need to correct ourselves. Often the thing that aggravates us about someone is the same trait that we have. We just don’t see it. We complain about others being close-minded, but we don’t listen to their point of view. Matthew 7:3 says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

Some people can become blind after being able to see at first. Something changed to make them blind. Often, we do not know the truth because we have experienced something that distracts us from that truth. It is hard to believe that the Father loves you if you were abused by your parents. The abuse does not change the fact that he loves you. The experience blinds us to it. God did not want you to suffer. Sin brought into this world brought the suffering. We want free will but blame God when someone uses the free will to hurt us. Often these experiences lead us to blindness caused by resentment. Matthew 11:28-29 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” If we seek the Lord Jesus, he will reveal the truth and open your eyes to the reality that will bring you peace.

While many have learned to live with blindness, there is a better way. Quit holding on to things that hide the truth. See the truth. Do not choose to remain blind.

       

Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. (Matthew 13:16)

The Solar Eclipse of 2017

Today, we experienced a solar eclipse. Here in the United States, many were able to see a total eclipse. The last time the United States experienced a total solar eclipse was in 1979. Unfortunately, for me, the moon only covered approximately 70% of the sun. 

I am not a person who looks for these sorts of things. There are people who stay up late watching for meteor showers and the like. It does not excite me. I love looking at the stars on a clear night, but I am not going out of my way to see them. 

I learned a few things because of this eclipse. First, 30% of the sun still exposed does not make it dark. In fact, at 1:29 pm during our peak moments, it looked like 1:29 pm on any given sunny day. I thought it would at least look like early evening.  I also learned that there are cities called Madras, Oregon and Carbondale, Illinois. I am sure they are great places, but I never heard of them until The Weather Channel showed their view of the eclipse on television.

People really get excited about these things. I witnessed people standing on buildings to get a good view. I saw stadiums full of people who gathered just for the moment. It does not matter to people that the totality of the eclipse lasted just over two minutes in duration. People were excited. Sometimes, I wonder why I am not as enthusiastic about such things as others are.  Not much really excites me.

I heard many warnings that we should not look at the sun with only our eyes. I hope parents teach their children not to do this even when there is no eclipse. Of course, my parents told me this from time to time, but being a stubborn boy, I would do it just to see how long I could endure it. It was never long. It is probably a good reason that I have worn glasses for most of my life.

I did manage to watch the eclipse for about 30 seconds with the special glasses that someone brought to work. It actually was cool to see. Not really enough of a reason to throw a party unless you just want a party.

Different people like to see different things. Many, like me, love to watch sunsets on the beach. Some like to see historical monuments, beautiful paintings, or maybe just a good menu from which to order dinner.

I wish we would see the more important thing. I wish we would see the faults in our own lives and try to fix them rather than see the fault in everyone else. I wish we would see the good in people and not the bad. I wish we would see everyone as human beings rather than the subgroups into which we have divided ourselves. I wish we would spend more time seeing our children and grandchildren growing up rather than spending so much time working or thinking only of ourselves.

Nature has many wonderful things to experience. I would love to see the Aurora Borealis, The Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef or The Daintree Rainforest. However, with all of the divisiveness that I see in this world. However, I would rather see peace and unity than all of the other things.